Stargazer heels to the breeze. Striding toward the shipping lanes. A run of white water cascading along her rail. A straight wake streaming astern. Vibrant and alive. Dancing, rejoicing, to the tune of wind and wave once more.
Cleaving through a stately procession of merchantman. Bound east, for Rotterdam, Antwerp and Felixstowe. Threading the gaps. Before despatching those bound west, for the Atlantic ports of the United States, in the same manner. Stargazer’s speed (six to seven knots over the ground, with tidal assistance) lending her an artful dodger agility.
This morning Stargazer left a fog bound Dieppe in the predawn twilight. Under the radio supervision of port control. Who were juggling the return of the fishing fleet, the arrival of the overnight ferry and the departure of north and east bound yachts. Intent on making the most of a day of westerly winds.
Good fortune smiles upon Stargazer. As is so often the case. The fog quickly retreating, at the sight of the rising sun.
Which soars imperiously skyward. Squinting at the new day through a bleary eye. As the breeze freshens. Breathing energy into a wide awake Stargazer.
The first breaths come from north of west. Combined with an east going tide, the effect is to set Stargazer thirty degrees off course. We sail on, in the hope of the breeze backing west, as forecast; and the certainty of the tide turning west at midday.
Luck is with Stargazer, once more. Through the day we are lifted. Our projected track swinging from Dungeness, to settle upon Beachy Head. The glow, of the mighty chalk buttress, visible ten miles out, across the tumbling grey waters of the Channel.
Colour and detail are revealed minute by minute, as Stargazer romps in. Sheets cracked. Reaching fast across the swell. Rock falls, wave-riven columns, shadowed caves and crevices. Creamy rock topped by green downs. The bijou red and white striped tower, of the lighthouse, beneath them.
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